Redlands East Valley's Alexis Hollinrake tries to block a goal from Riverside Poly during the CIF-SS Division 5 girls water polo semifinal game at Whittier College in Whittier, CA, Wednesday, February 26, 2014. REV was eliminated from the finals 14-5.
(Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)

WHITTIER — Midway through the second half, it became evident that it wasn’t meant to be for Redlands East Valley’s girls water polo team.

In a CIF-Southern Section semifinal for the fourth straight season, the Wildcats grew weary down the stretch, and a CIF championship final appearance slipped away again.

REV lost, 14-5, to Riverside Poly in a Division 5 semifinal at Whittier College. Riverside Poly, a finalist last season, will face Warren in the championship match on Saturday. Warren defeated defending champion Crescenta Valley, 16-9, in the other semifinal.

“We’re disappointed,” REV first-year coach Ryan Williams said. “Obviously it’s the fourth year in a row to lose in the semis. In another sense, it was an accomplishment. I looked at the tape of our team last year. Only three girls that were in the water in that game were in the water tonight. I’m proud of the girls.”

REV did what it could to keep the more experienced Poly team from running away with the game. The Wildcats managed to slow the pace at the onset.

“They wanted to take our counter away,” Riverside Poly coach Mike Cardey said. “They wanted to get the ball to their two shooters and take the outside shots.”

That strategy kept REV in the game throughout the first half, but Poly still managed to take a 5-3 lead into halftime.

“That kept them in the game for a while,” Cardey said. “It was a good game plan.”

But in the second half the Wildcats produced just two goals, Poly taking advantage of mistakes and turnovers.

“We were trying to slow it down to take their counter away,” Williams said. “But we got caught in a couple of switches and they were able to get a couple easy goals.”

Poly handled REV in an early-season nonleague encounter, winning that game 16-5. Poly jumped out to a big lead in that one.

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“This was a lot different,” Cardey said. “We played in our pool and we countered them. They didn’t slow it down. This time they slowed it down, and that hurts the other team’s counter. So it was a big difference.”

Poly led 7-4 going into the fourth quarter and broke it open by outscoring the Wildcats 7-1.